Czech Republic’s Agrofert to acquire Borealis’ fertilizers division for €810m

MADRID (ICIS)–Borealis is to sell its fertilizers division to Czech Republic-headquartered Agrofert for €810m, the Austrian polymers producer said late on Thursday.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Borealis has for years been mulling the divestment of its fertilizers assets, which have underperformed the polyolefins side of the business.

The nitrogen business – which includes fertilizers, melamine, and nitrogen products – represented around 20% of Borealis’ sales.

In February, Russian fertilizers producer EuroChem – which is headquartered in Switzerland but holds most of its assets in Russia – had made an offer to acquire the business for €455m, but after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February Borealis declined the offer on 11 March.

“Borealis will initiate mandatory information and consultation procedures with employee representatives shortly,” said the company on Thursday.

Agrofert is a conglomerate producing chemicals, agriculture products as well as food. In 2021, it posted sales of €7.5bn, operates 200 companies and employs around 31.000 people.

It operates fertilizers production facilities in Germany, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

“Borealis will continue to focus on its core activities of providing innovative and sustainable solutions in the fields of polyolefins and base chemicals and on the transformation towards a circular economy,” said the company.

In total, Borealis employs 6,900 workers.

FOCUSING ON POLYMERS
Borealis is now majority-owned by Austrian energy and petrochemicals major OMV; in 2021, Borealis’ sales, including joint ventures, stood at €10.15bn, with net profit at €1.40bn.

OMV has a 75% stake in Borealis; the remaining 25% is owned by a holding company of Abu-Dhabi-based Mubadala.

At the same time, Borealis holds a stake in Abu Dhabi’s Borouge polyolefins complex, with production capacities at 2.7m tonnes/year of polyethylene (PE) and 2.2m tonnes/year of polypropylene (PP).

In May, Borealis and its joint venture partner ADNOC launched an initial public offering (IPO) for 10% of Borouge’s issued share capital aiming to raise $2bn in proceeds; the enterprise value for Borouge stands at around $20bn.

Post-IPO, ADNOC will hold a 54% stake in Borouge while Borealis’ stake will be 36%.